Not alone
by tortaki
Summary: Sayaka decides to take a new job in a familiar shop hoping it may help her sort out something, and perhaps, even learn more about herself in the process. (Episodic, it's completed but not over)


_AN: Hello! It's been a while since the last time I updated something and this is once again for a different fandom, but I still hope it's of your liking!_

_A few notes before reading this: There are OCs, but I swear they exist because they need to for this story. Besides that, this story takes place after chapter 38 from the manga, but no direct spoilers are going to get mentioned in here, so it's not really necessary to be up-to-date to read it. And now, without _further_ ado..._

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Chapter 1: Moving on

"Did you get all that?" Miyako asked Sayaka as she placed the coffee pot back to where it belonged.

"Yes, don't worry," she replied. She wasn't really sure if making coffee was as much of a daunting task as her new boss was trying to convince her of, but she wasn't about to question it, she asked for the job, so she wasn't going to take it lightly.

"Okay, ask me if you need me to remind you anything. Time to open the shop," she announced and walked to the door to flip the sign. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, today I will handle the drinks, just serve the costumers, okay?"

"Hmm? Alright." Sayaka found this odd, but she didn't feel like arguing.

"Now, do you feel like telling me why did you want this job?" Miyako asked. "You can trust me, you know?" Her question was well-intentioned, and Sayaka knew she could be open about this with her, so perhaps it was time for her to talk about what happened last week.

"Well..." She started, but her words were cut short by the sound of the bell at the door and the chitchat of two girls who were around her own age. Sayaka looked at her side and noticed that Miyako was staring at her, this was her first trial.

The two girls entered, waved at Miyako, and walked towards a table that was almost hidden from sight at the corner or the store without looking around that much, 'they are regulars', Sayaka quickly picked up. She approached them and prepared a casual smile.

"Welcome, would you like to see the menu?" she asked with her hand already resting on it.

"That's alright, one slice of cheesecake and two coffees, please," the girl at the left nonchalantly said without bothering to look at her.

"You're new, right?" By contrast, the girl at the right was staring at her with wide open eyes and a smile Sayaka wasn't quite able to figure out what it meant.

"Yes, I'm Saeki, nice to meet you," Sayaka thought her answer was adequate, but the girl at the right didn't seem to agree, as she had a fierce stare fixed on her. It just took Sayaka seconds to figure out what was going on.

"I didn't know Kodama-san was hiring! That's a surprise!" However, the other girl didn't seem to notice, and the situation was growing more awkward with each passing second. "Ah! Could it be...! She wanted more time to go out with-?! Ouch!" Sayaka was certain she just heard a kick.

"I will be right back with your orders," this was her chance to escape, and Sayaka made sure not to waste it. She turned back to the counter and on her way she heard some whispers behind her, but decided to pay them no mind.

"A cheesecake and two coffees," Sayaka announced to Miyako, who was already near the coffee machine.

"The usual then," Miyako replied and got to work. "Don't mind Eri, she's just shy."

"That's… One way to put it..." Sayaka sighed. "So, they also know about you and Hakozaki-sensei," that wasn't a question. "You are not good at keeping secrets, are you?" that wasn't a question either.

"Well, you're not really the first one to ask," Miyako said placing two cups of coffee into a tray. "There are many girls like us in the world, you know?" she said before walking off to the kitchen to pick the cheesecake from the fridge.

'_There are many girls like us in the world… Many girls who like girls...' _Sayaka thought to herself. It wasn't as if this was something she just discovered, she had met a few already, but there was something in those words that just left her lost in thought.

"Here it is," Miyako said and snapped Sayaka back to reality. "Don't make them wait," she added.

Of course, Sayaka wasn't planning to, so she picked up the tray and made sure she was holding it correctly before walking off.

Upon reaching the hidden table, she noticed that Eri had a warm smile on her face that dissipated as soon as she noticed she was back.

"Here's your order," Sayaka said and moved to place the cups on the table.

"Saeki-san!" _oh no_, "I almost forgot to tell you my name! How rude of me! I'm Ai! She's Eri!" the now named girl said, and Sayaka could feel Eri staring at her once again.

"Nice to meet you two," she politely said, again.

"Saeki-san, you're a lesbian, right?" Sayaka took some seconds to process what she has just been asked.

"Ai!" Eri snapped at her. "I'm so sorry for her manners, please ignore her."

Sayaka preferred not to point out the irony from the fact that those words came from the same person who has been staring intensively at her just some seconds ago.

"No, it's okay," Sayaka replied and took some seconds to think on the appropriate answer. "I haven't used that word to describe myself before, but I guess I am, yes."

"I knew it..." Eri said, surprising Sayaka once again, but this was something the girl must have picked up, "I mean, if you're working for Kodama-san, she probably trusted you her secret, and if she did, that means..."

"That I asked her about it, and if I did that was because I was the same, right?" Sayaka followed.

"Right!" Ai replied, "I hope we can get along, right Eri?" she asked with a warm smile, something that seemed to be contagious to the other girl, who simply nodded.

"Of course," Sayaka replied with a genuine smile, "Now, please enjoy your coffees while they're still hot," she said and walked back to the counter.

"Kodama-san, are you okay with this place being known as some kind of lesbian Cafe?" Sayaka half-jokingly asked.

"As long as just people like us know about it, then I'm fine," Miyako replied. "And you? Are you okay working at a lesbian Cafe?"

"As long as just people like us know," Sayaka quoted.

"So, why don't you answer my previous question." Miyako reminded her, "Why did you want this job again?"

"Well… I guess I just wanted something to help me move on."

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_AN: And that was it~_

_Further chapters will bring characters from the existing story, as well as introduce more OCs if I feel the story needs to, but I'll try not to unless I really need to._

_Please leave a review if you liked it, and you can follow me on Twitter at tortaki if you want to know what I'm up to whenever I'm not updating. Thanks for reading~_


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